Kevin Jarrett isn’t your typical computer teacher. His students build walls from clay, sand and water. They design parachutes from coffee filters. And it’s perfectly fine if the things they build don’t work the first time.

Since Race to the Top was launched, schools across the country have adopted new, rigorous education standards, implemented stringent teacher evaluation systems and are developing data collection systems to better inform instruction.

In a first-of-its-kind study, the Brookings Institute analyzed millions of advertisements for job vacancies and compared the length of time jobs requiring science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills and non-STEM related jobs remained open.

American schools increasingly depend on digital technologies to expand learning opportunities, to individualize instruction and to graduate students with the skills necessary for success in college and the 21st century workplace.